To not know what to do about my son who pretended he went to a different school?

[chasethebear]

My son started year 9 this September. He has a lot of friends at the other secondary school. They started a day earlier than his school did and thought it would be hilarious to go into school with his friends. Apparently they spent most of the morning trying to figure out which classes he was in and caused an uproar at the school. They ended up putting him in classes and telling him they'll sort him out on the system ASAP. DS then obviously never went back and attended his actual school. I have no idea what to do about it. I haven't been contacted and no other word has been said but I hate to think what the other school have done.

I think it’s pretty funny too 😬

He wasn't supposed to be at his school until the next day!

I can see this happening, occasionally kids turn up who are late to enroll or are shifted from class B to class F overnight and so aren't yet on my list. Nobody wants the new kid to feel bad so they sit him on the end of the row and sort it out later.

A boy did that years ago at DC school. There was hell to pay. I thought it was very funny, as did all the DC.

That is hilarious.

And highlights something I’ve been thinking about this month (teacher with small DC starting school)...

All the red hot safeguarding procedures in the world mean diddly squat in week one when nobody knows the kids from Adam. As your DS has proved.

I’m not sure what the answer is however...

Wow. I joked with my daughter about her doing this to see what she could get away with. She used to go to the same school as primary friends but we moved her. Obviously would never dare follow it through but sorry OP this made me a tiny bit amused!

Oh jeepers. I am a secondary teacher and I can 100% see this happening. We frequently get kids having been enrolled without any information coming to us. So you are greeted by a smiling and anxious looking child flanked by two confident kids you know assuring you that he is in your class. Your immediate thought would be “shit! What email have I missed?”

It could easily happen.

I would make cross noises and laugh when he can’t hear me. If I had any notion of the panic he will have caused in the teachers I might also insist on him paying for some biscuits for the staff room.

I’ve worked in schools and I’m still finding it funnier than I should. I think you should contact the school to apologise on his behalf so they aren’t dicking around trying to track down the unknown student.

I'm surprised the school didn't call the LEA when they had no record of him?

I can totally believe it, at that age I would leave the house by 8am at the latest and wouldn't be home until 7pm at the earliest through the school holidays, that wasn't so long ago either (yay for shoddy public transport!)
My mum would assume I was at a friend's and that I'd call if I had any issues. Surely most 13yos spend long days hanging out with their mates? (unless doing it online I suppose!)

That is quite funny.

Haha this is brilliant!!!

Now that is funny - very naughty but still funny. And for those asking where the OP thought he was all day, she said, in town with a mate. The only thing that would have rung alarm bells for me with either of mine at that age would have been the fact they'd managed to get out of bed before 10am on the last day of the holidays!

What was that Leonardo Di Caprio movie.....Catch me if you can.....he will go far

I don’t wish to add fuel to any story but for anyone doubting whether this is possible, if you have ever worked in a large secondary school on the first day it is astonishingly possible.

Remember our safe guarding procedures are for children we expect to be there no being there. Not for random children choosing to have a day in school when they could be elsewhere.

The child was safe and under the supervision of probably at least six staff who will have been perplexed but alert to his presence.

But who would call the LEA? The individual teachers would assume they've missed something and it will be ironed out. The Head probably wouldn't hear about it until the teachers discuss 'Johnny Jones in year 9' and realise something is amiss at break the next day.

My Cousin did this! About 25 years ago though when they were less strict on uniform etc. She still laughs about it now.

I'm no fan of schools and their admin but I don't think it's funny.

It's not that unusual for his to be up and out in his days off, meeting friends. The like getting McDonald's breakfast in town, it's not unusual for him, so I didn't think it was odd at all.

I'm glad others don't find it too bad though! I was slightly mortified and did worry about what to do.

His school started a day after, as they gave the first day for just year 7 and 12.

What to do about it? Pretend you haven't heard.

That's hilarious! Hopefully he didn't give his actual contact details to the other school... In which case it'll be a funny story for his wedding

I would have suggested he write an apology to the school for the trouble he caused. Or better still, go and confess and apologize in person.

But then they'll know some of their own pupils must have been in on it, and while they can't do much to ds, they could come down quite heavily on the others, which wouldn't be fair. Unless ds's own school would agree to administer whatever punishment the other school thought was fair.

It was a good joke, but not very fair to teachers who were no doubt already harassed, and he needs to take whatever retribution comes his way.

What does ds think would be suitable punishment?

He thinks I should "let it go and be proud of him for wanting to be in lessons" -eye roll-

Where did you think he was all day, op?

I work in a school who start at Y9. Most years we have at least one student show up on the first day who has not applied but whose parents for a variety of reasons have assumed that you just show up.

We always call the LEA to check but generally keep the student in school with us where they are safe.

AFAIK we've never had one doing it just for the LOLs. I don't personally think it's very funny but I guess that's probably because it would be my job to try to sort that kid out and we have more than enough going on on the first day.